Novation Circuit Tracks | A Tool for Filmmakers

Novation Circuit Tracks is a tool for filmmakers - hear me out.
Do you have aspirations of adding your own music to your videos? Do you want to save money and drop the music subscription platform so you can put that money back into your craft? Then I think the Novation Circuit Tracks is definitely worth checking out. The Tracks is the updated version of the beloved Circuit and is perfect for beginners looking for a fun way to get into music on the go or experts looking to drop the DAW. It's my first groove box and I couldn't be more stoked - hence the video :D
Intro 0:00
Intro Track 0:36
Overview 2:04
Demo 4:47
Conclusion 11:43
Outro Onewheel Ride 12:00
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[@krazywabbit]

This hit home and one of the reasons why I quit a company that charged a monthly fee for music. Just got the Tracks a few days ago and this was a super helpful and inspirational video. Subbed. Be safe, have max fun and keep inspiring!

[@MikeErickson]

Sweet! Glad you liked it! 👍

[@tr1co0]

Awesome video! A few small notes for anyone new watching this: the Tracks has a metronome, so you don’t have to lay down a drum part to keep time at the beginning, and 6:43-6:53 wasn’t an effect or an oscillator. Pitch was being adjusted and then recorded as automation.

[@MikeErickson]

Nice! Thanks!

[@tsuriranpu]

Damn finally someone who can make a decent sound on this. I just orderd mine and was hoping to find someone making hard hitting beats. I clicked on this video because of the title being an aspiring film maker myself. And found both haha. Great video🔥

[@MikeErickson]

Thanks man! It's all about the drum samples IMO.

[@artg7909]

Let it snow....this is it. Thanks.

[@fotoniknoise]

I'm a film maker also and I used to have the first version of the novation circuit which was kind of limited! Now I just ordered the Circuit tracks as it seems way more elaborated, particularly with the probabilities functions, ratchets, and the possibility to go of the grid within a sequence..

[@MikeErickson]

Awesome - I never used the original cause it seemed more like a toy to me when it was released. I love the connect-ability of the new tracks and have basically replaced my mixer with it. I'm interested how you feel about it compared to the original.

[@incaroads001]

This is a really good video. That's an interesting beat that you made on the fly. And, because you're a film maker, I know that you're doing those jump cuts on purpose; but they're making me sea sick... Really, really sea BLAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!

[@MikeErickson]

Thanks - was an experiment that worked out ok. But yeah, would love to have zero jump cuts but I'm just not that smart - I generally cut out pauses and ramblings that slow the video down.

[@FoxyNirvana]

Awesome enjoyed that!... just bought one! Perfecta! 😎✌️🙏💯

[@MikeErickson]

Sweet! Stoked for you!

[@michaelandrewlawrence]

That beat was sick!

[@MikeErickson]

Thanks man!

[@MrJackal43]

That was ALL GOOD!

[@MikeErickson]

Glad you liked it! Thanks for the vibes 👊

[@Lotzo]

Thx for sending me a link

[@jimmcdougall9973]

Excellent video! The best I have seen. I can play keys, although I’m predominantly a guitarist. However, I am terrible at programming drums. By the time I have sat down to write and record a song, in a structured format, my inspiration is gone. From what I understand, the Circuit Tracks allows one to capture/program scenes that make up a whole song. Plus the standalone and rechargeable battery power make this a very attractive device. After all the demos I have watched I think you have convinced me on this one and how it can be applied to my needs. Thank you.

[@MikeErickson]

Certainly worth trying out anyways. I was on the fence between this and the roland MC-101. No regrets so far - it really does make it fun to create music.

[@jammingpositivevibration]

I'am amator electronic music player and real estate content creator. I never seen anyone to produce they own music and play it on they video

[@atlimit2204]

Hey Mike, i'm loving my circuit tracks just got for xmas. First videos i saw of it were yours. Thanks. Unfortunately too wet in the uk for the onewheel lately but drier days will be ahead. What patches do you have on the tracks that you rate?

[@MikeErickson]

There are two new packs that novation released for free the last little while - definitely enough to get started on. I've also been having a lot of fun with DeLorean Dream and the stuff from A Force Truly Evil. Thanks for reaching out! Follow my other channel for more circuit stuff: kzbin.info/door/N4wCRwzzo0xEXhirqUdx0g

[@ScottBell]

Dude that beat at 1:20 is so dope. Digging the new lighting setup and studio angle.

[@MikeErickson]

Thanks man! Always switching things up - I tried a new grading technique with this one and I'm pretty happy with the majority of it.

[@LillySchwartz]

That’s a great! I’ve been making the music for my videos for a couple years now and there’s no going back! But then I have it much easier, I just don’t like subscription service music 😂 It’s all kinda elevator music to my ears! I always spent hours trying to find something I liked and even when I found a single track it was almost impossible to find another one that matched in vibe. I’d spend days just looking for music and listening through all that meh stuff when I don’t even have much time to listen to the music I love just seemed silly. I used to make music like 15 years earlier, so I just picked up a few cheap instruments again, learned all the cool new stuff that they added to Ableton and started making the kind of music I wanted to have on my videos. At the beginning it took a bit of time to make enough tracks, but now I can just choose from a bunch and they all have a similar vibe, because I wrote them. I’m actually in the process of finishing a synth wave ambient crossover EP now and I have another whole album of ambient that just needs proper mixing and mastering. And somehow my two most watched videos on my photography channel are now music related 🤷‍♀️ Oops!

[@MikeErickson]

You're the whole creative package Lilly! That's awesome. My channel actually started with music way back when, then I made a drastic switch to attempt to get better at story. I guess this is my full circle video. I love ableton, it's my DAW of choice. I think that's why I get along so well with the circuit because it has a very similar layout - building clips and then fleshing out songs using scenes. Plus it's nice to not be constantly staring at a screen! Thanks for watching Lilly!

[@LillySchwartz]

@@MikeErickson yeah, novation products always seem to play nicely with the Ableton mindset. I have a novation launchpad pro too and it's just so useful. You're right about screens getting a bit too much though. That's why I've been playing with some analog synths every now and then! Completely DAWless needs way too much gear for my style of music though and I sadly don't have space for all that hardware!

[@MikeErickson]

@@LillySchwartz I have a volca FM on the way - it'll be my first analog synth. Pretty stoked. I'll be able to sequence it with the circuit which should make it a bit easier to incorporate with my music.

[@LillySchwartz]

@@MikeErickson I think the volca FM is digital too. It's fairly confusing though, because they all pretty much look the same, some are analog like the Volca Bass and the Volca Keys and others are digital. They all sound pretty cool though and that's really what matters! I gave my husband the Volca Keys for Christmas and he is very happy with it. These little Volcas are definitely a great way to get into hardware synths and they don't take up much space!

[@MikeErickson]

@@LillySchwartz oh, you are right it is digital. Anyways, nice to share a connection beyond the video stuff. I appreciate you Lilly!

[@steveelliott3496]

Not to "dote" on things.....your eyes look better every day bud! I can tell thing are going well!!!

[@MikeErickson]

Yeah man, I'm feeling good - I haven't been sober for this long in my entire adult life and now I'm not sure why? What was I hiding from? Trying to be? Avoiding? I feel like everything in my life is better since I quit. Recently my passion for music has even returned! My new drug is cranking 70s prog rock! Life's good brotha!

[@j4s0n67]

is the built quality good? tbh that is my biggest concern in camera it looks very cheap and flimsy

[@MikeErickson]

I think it's great - very similar to the higher end launchpads (the pro versions). Nobs feel good, nicely dampened, and the buttons have a nice click to them.

[@sinewaymusic]

Love your enthusiasm but don't you agree that two synth tracks is extremely limiting for a device at this price range? Your live jam started off well, but after the bassline and that one synth sound, you were effectively out of tracks already. I find that in most of the music I make, I need at least a bassline, a pad/chord, an arp and a lead. Maybe not all at once, but at least 3 out of those 4 would play for the most part. If one one the drum tracks could be used to play a third synth, I'd be really tempted to buy one.

[@MikeErickson]

I hear you, but the circuit tracks ability to absorb other synths into the workflow is a pretty great feature - a volca bass and minilogue and you've got a really great live performance setup for relativey cheap. But sure, not for everyone.

[@MikeErickson]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGHSZJ6hgLqUbdk

[@sinewaymusic]

@@MikeErickson Yeah, it seems the Circuit Tracks becomes a lot more useful if you're prepared to commit to bringing lots of other hardware devices with you. I'm thinking it's great for live performances or as a hub for more elaborate hardware studios, but I thought the whole premise of your video was to use is as a bit of an on the go music production studio for your videos, so I assumed you'd be using it in solo mode for the most part. Personally, I'm looking for a sketch pad kind of music device that I can use to quickly jam out new music ideas before bringing the good ones over to the DAW in my studio, and the Circuit is the closest thing to my ideal machine, but not with its current track limitation for synths since I mainly product trance/EDM style music where I need at least bass, pad/chord, lead and ideally an arp. Committing to even more hardware and cabling defeats the purpose of its portability in my opinion.

[@MikeErickson]

@@sinewaymusic Have you looked at the MC-101? It can bounce tracks individually to a DAW for a bit of a hybrid workflow.

[@sinewaymusic]

@@MikeErickson I did, yes! It's on my short list, and I do have an affinity for Roland in general, but I have to say that the workflow seems less immediate and less fun compared to the Novation Circuit. It kind of reminds me of programming a Texas Instruments calculator. Plus it lacks sidechaining, which makes it less useful as a sketchpad for me since my favorite genres all make heavy use of it. Lastly, it's a bit more expensive, though that's not the main consideration necessarily. What I think the MC-101 has going for it, compared to the Circuit, is the sound bank and synth engine and the thousands of tone presets (the 64 sound presets on the Circuit seem very limited when spread out across basses, pads, leads etc, and the idea of constantly plugging it into the computer to load new presets isn't very compelling), and, using drums on track 1, you have 3 other tracks for synths, which is great. I guess a best of both worlds approach would be a Circuit with more sound presets, the ability to have the two Midi tracks be used as a synth tracks instead. :)

[@cokecl]

If you don't have other synths for the midi channels just use your phone with an USB adapter

[@MikeErickson]

Oh sweet! Thanks!

[@junayedahmed4853]

😍

[@venanark1180]

Question I was contacted by someone about KZbin SEO and your channel was proof is this real or not?

[@MikeErickson]

Yeah, I posted about it a week ago - I had a large spike after hiring someone to improve the SEO on a couple videos - I had a big increase in views and got excited and posted on the NSC site. In retrospect, I think the guy who did the work might have paid for views to get more business. There was a 500% uptick in views, but zero engagement. Now it's pretty much back where it was before.

[@venanark1180]

@@MikeErickson Ok thanks i wanted to see if I was getting scammed